Page 28 of The Society Catch
The arrangements were finalised and Mrs Gedding took Miss Shaw to the kitchens to collect a recipe she had promised to Mrs Thwaite. Joanna, her vision a blur, got abruptly to her feet and walked out of the room. Giles caught up with her in the garden.
‘Are you sulking, Joanna?’
‘Sulking?No I am notsulking. I am trying not to cry, if you must know,’ she stormed at him, suddenly finding it incomprehensible that she had even liked Giles Gregory, let alone loved him. ‘My mother has all but cast me off, my father is unwell and angry with me, my little brother is upset, I am being sent off in disgrace and that horrible woman with a face like a weasel is going to be smug and superior all the way to Hertfordshire.’ She took a gulping breath. ‘And I will soon be learning all about being the poor spinster relation who is the very person to call in to look after things when one or other of my female relations is confined, or the children have measles or…or…’
‘Joanna!’ He was laughing at her. The wretched man was actuallylaughing. ‘Calm down, for goodness sake. I agree that Miss Shaw closely resembles a weasel. I agree that your family is distressingly angry with you, but all you need – you and your parents – is a few weeks to get over this. No-one, yet, has died of a broken heart and this man who has so cruelly disappointed you is not going to achieve that, or even ruin your life as you are so convinced he has.
‘I would be prepared to wager that in six months you will have recovered sufficiently to take an interest in the new Season and, without the impossible task of living up to this paragon, you will have much better time of it.’ He broke off, looking down into her face. ‘Believe me, Joanna, he is not worth this anguish, whoever he is.’
‘I have already come to that conclusion, I thank you,’ she snapped, turned on her heel and stalked off into the shrubbery. Giles made no attempt to follow her.
Joanna emerged at luncheon and took the opportunity while Mrs Gedding was out of the room greeting her returning husband to apologise to Giles. ‘I am sorry I snapped at you,’ she said stiffly. ‘I have everything to thank you for, I should not be so ungrateful.’
He looked up with a smile. ‘It was only what anyone would do for a lady in such distress as your mama.’ He added, ‘And you had a terrifying experience, it is no wonder you are feeling somewhat vapourish just now.’
Well that has put me firmly in my place,Joanna thought, compressing her lips firmly on a tart retort.I need not think he had any particular concern for me, only for Mama. And I am suffering from the vapours, am I?
Her lacerated feelings suffered a further blow after the meal when, returning to the dining room to retrieve her shawl which she had left on her chair, she overheard Mrs Gedding talking to Giles. Joanna listened with growing indignation from behind the door.
‘Miss Shaw is very sensitive, it seems,’ her hostess was saying. ‘Although I had said nothing to her or Mrs Thwaite of Joanna’s true predicament, she appears to have guessed that we are returning a runaway to her home. I suspect that several years as a mistress in a girls’ seminary in Bath has given her experienceof young ladies over-reacting to emotional situations. But she assures me that she will keep a very strict eye on Joanna, and promises that she will not leave her side, by day or night.’
‘I am sure that will not be necessary,’ Giles said. ‘Joanna appears resigned to returning home. Or at least, to our friends in Hertfordshire.’
‘I am sure she has realised the errors of her ways,’ Mrs Gedding agreed comfortably. ‘But Miss Shaw tells me that she has a number of improving tracts suitable for young ladies and will do her utmost to engage Joanna’s interest in them during the journey.’
Joanna did not wait to hear Giles’s opinion of improving tracts, but stalked out into the sunshine and took refuge in the stables.
‘Hateful, hateful woman,’ she said vehemently. Moonstone, who had put her head over the half-door at the sound of her approach, shied away with a snort. ‘To be dragged back, not just in disgrace, but shut up with her, having to share a bedchamber with her and being lectured morning, noon and night as though I had run away from school with the drawing master. Insufferable.’
She thumped her fist on something, then realised it was the side-saddle she had been using with Moonstone, the bridle hanging beside it. Slowly Joanna ran her hands over the hard leather, an idea slowly filling her mind. Dare she? Just how far away was Georgy’s house?
The Squire’s study was empty and Joanna soon found where he kept his atlases and road books. She located Wisbech, then traced the roads back to the village. There were several options, all of them straight, with sharp turns every now and again as they crossed the dykes and canals which drained the flat fenlands. After ten minutes rapid scribbling on a sheet of notepaper she found on the desk, and some careful measuringwith the ruler, Joanna came to the conclusion that, even going by the smaller roads, it could not be more than thirty miles to the town. Once she was there, everyone would know where to find Lord Brandon’s house.
Tactics and strategy,she murmured to herself. Once she was with Georgy, surely Mama would be content to let her stay, because no-one could doubt that Lady Brandon, however feather-brained she might be, was not eminently respectable. But with Georgy she would be able to plan and her friend would not be trying to dissuade her from whatever course she decided upon.
In fact, now she thought about it, Georgy had been encouraging her husband to take her on a continental tour. Surely she would want a female companion for that adventure? And once Joanna had some experience, perhaps she could find a position with another lady wanting to travel.
Her rosy daydream was clouded somewhat by the thought of the anxiety this new escape would cause, but she knew she would be at the Brandon’s within the day and she could immediately send news of her safe arrival to Mrs Gedding. It would be far too soon for Mama or Hebe to be alerted. The only danger would be capture by Giles.
Tactics, tactics,she murmured, gathering up pen, ink and paper and retiring to her bedchamber to compose the most reassuring and grateful note she could to Mrs Gedding. That took some time and when it was finished there were her route notes to arrange carefully and study and a selection to be made of the absolute essentials to pack into a small portmanteau.
Chapter Fourteen
By dinner time Joanna’s stomach was full of butterflies and she had little appetite, although she made herself eat as much as possible. It could be a long, and hungry, day tomorrow.
The Squire was in excellent spirits and Joanna was able to keep up the appearance of normality with an odd comment or question while he recounted how he was writing to London magistrates about the Thoroughgoods and their associates and how he had every confidence in them all receiving their just desserts.
After dinner she sat and helped Mrs Gedding with some sewing until the tea tray was brought in, then made her excuses and went up to bed.
‘Good night, my dear,’ Mrs Gedding said placidly. ‘It will be as well to get a good night’s sleep, as the chaise has been ordered for ten and we must have you all packed and ready before that. I do hope the men will not keep you awake – I believe they are set on a game of billiards tonight and once the Squire finds a willing opponent he is quite likely to play into the small hours.’
Joanna was delighted with that news. After a late night she could hope that Giles would sleep in and she would be well on her way before he was awake to miss her. She catnapped restlessly all night, too worried about oversleeping to drop into a deep slumber. When she heard the longcase clock strike four she scrambled into her habit in the grey dawn light, pulled on her boots and picked up the small portmanteau. The note to Mrs Gedding she left on her pillow.
The house was silent and the parlour window opened easily. She pushed it closed and ran across the grass to the stables. The old dog opened an eye as she passed, but he was used to her by now and made no attempt to bark, and then she was inside.
Moonstone stood patiently while she heaved on the saddle and struggled to tighten the girth. The bridle was more difficult, but by dint of standing on a crate she managed it. Then she unbuckled the girth from every saddle in the tack room and the bit from every bridle, dropped them into a sack and hid them under some hay in an unoccupied loose box. That should slow down any pursuit until she was well away, and if the hired chaise was not ordered until ten, even that could not hope to catch her.
Joanna walked Moonstone out of the box and across the yard to the mounting block. With a last glance up at Giles’s chamber window she turned the mare’s head and rode quietly off down the drive into the lifting mist.
